Fretted stringed instruments

ABSTRACT

A fretted stringed instrument wherein yieldably mounted frets are provided between rigid fret bars. This allows the strings to be stopped off with much less pressure than with conventional non-yieldable frets, and still produce a true tone.

United States Patent 1191 Sibert et al.

[451 Feb. 12, 1974 [54] FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 2,492,845 12/1949 Conkling et al. 84/314 [76] Inventors: Ralph R. Sibert, 1 854 Buena Vista Euclid Ohm 4017; Paul Primary Examiner--Richard B. Wilkinson Mlsley, 179l4 BraZl Assistant Examiner-John F. Gonzales Cleveland Ohlo 44119 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-William N. Hogg, Esq. [22] Filed: June 13, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 369,522

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. 84/314 A fretted stringed instrument wherein yieldabb, [51] Int. Cl. Glod 3/06 mounted frets are provided between rigid fret bars. [58] Field of Search 84/314, 293, 267, 268, 269 This allows the Strings to be stopped ff h h less pressure than with conventional non-yieldable [56] References Cited frets, and still produce a true tone.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,554,802 9/1925 Dyer 84/314 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I'Ii'l'i'" I I I I 1 O 5 03" FRETTED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to fretted stringed instruments and more particularly to yieldable mounted frets on fretted stringed instruments. In the field of fretted stringed instruments it is conventional practice to provide a solid, rigid, non-yieldable, hard surfaced neck member having raised rigid fret bars extending there across. One or more strings are provided which are tightened to provide a basic tone and a finger or other stop member is utilized to press down on the strings between the fret bars pressing the string firmly against the hard surface of the frets between the fret bars. The fret will thus stop off the strings and provide a specific note corresponding to the length of the string as defined at the fret where it is stopped.

In many instances such as the guitar, mandolin, and other similar instruments, a rather large amount of pressure must be exerted by the fingers pushing the string against the fret between the fret bars to properly stop off the string to obtain the desired tone. Also, with conventional construction the pressure applied by the finger must be as close as possible to fret bar on which the string is being stopped to prevent buzzing. This has hindered children, women, and other people who dont have great strength in their fingers from quickly' learning or quickly becoming proficient in the use of such fretted stringed instruments. Also, the hard rigid wood fret has required the player to have relatively short cut nails in. order to properly engage and stop off the strings against the fret bar without breaking the nails, thus discouraging many women from undertaking the playing of a fretted stringed instruments.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION According to the present invention, a fretted stringed instrument is provided having a neck portion which has thereon yieldably mounted frets disposed between relatively regid fret bars, the yieldably mounting allowing the fret to yield under substantially less pressure than is required to stop off the string against a hard surface thereby allowing satisfactory stopping of the string with much less finger pressure and also allowing a person with long nails to satisfactorily play the instrument with the resulting tone being equal to the tone obtained from a conventional fretted comparable instrument with pressure applied anywhere on the fret.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a guitar having a fret and fret bar mounting according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention will be described as applied to a conventional six string guitar. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular instrument and is indeed equally applicable to any fretted stringed instrument.

Referring now to the drawing, a conventional six string guitar incorporating the present invention is shownand' designated g serum;rfiareraefibe ha'r: acter 10. The guitar 10 includes a neck member 12 which is provided with a pair of side rails 14 extending the length thereof on opposite sides of the neck member 12. The side rails 14 extend upwardly from the neck member 12. Disposed on the neck member 12 and between the side rails 14 is an elongated strip of resilient elastomeric foam material 16.

A plurality of fret bars 18 are provided which are spaced in a conventional manner and are embedded in and extend between the side rails 14 thereby extending transversely of the neck member 12 in a conventional manner. The fret bars 18 extend into and are embedded in the foam material 16 and have heads 20 defining stop surfaces 22 therebeneath.

A plurality of individual frets 24 are provided, each fret extending between two adjacent fret bars 18. The frets 24 are flat planar pieces made of a relatively rigid non-yieldable hard surface material such as wood or dense plastic. The frets 24 have flat upper surfaces 26 which are disposed to engage the stop surfaces 22 on the under side of the heads 20 of the fret bars 18, and the foam material 16 normally urges the frets 24 into contact with the stop surfaces 22 to thereby define a normal position of the frets between the fret bars. The two full showings of the frets to the left side in FIG. 2 show the frets in this normal position. Also, preferably the under side of the frets 24 are beveled as shown at 28. This bevel is at both ends of the frets adjacent the fret bars and the edges adjacent the side rails 14 and the sides which is for the purpose of preventing binding or hanging up of the frets on the fret bars or side rails when they are depressed as will be explained presently.

The operation of a fret bar is depicted in FIG. 2 wherein a finger is shown depressing string 30 against one of the frets 24. The consistency of the foam material 16 is such that it will yield under substantially less pressure than would be required to completely stop off the string over the fret bar 18 against a conventional rigid non-yielding fret. Thus, when the finger presses against the fret, the fret will start yielding at a much less pressure than would be required to stop the string off against a conventional non-yielding fret. By this yieldable action a tightening of the string over the fret bar 18 is obtained to a sufficient degree to produce a true tone at a much lower finger pressure than would be required to obtain this tone against a non-yielding conventional fret. Also, this yielding allows a person with rather long finger nails to utilize the instrument since the nails, instead of being bent back by the unyielding resistance of a conventional fret, will actually cause the fret to yield to the touch and thus not damage the nail, hence allowing a person with long nails to effectively play the instrument. This latter is by virtue of the fact both that much less pressure is required to obtain the proper stopping of the string and also that the nail itself will cause a certain amount of yielding of the fret against the resilient yieldable material. Also, it will be noted that fret bars are relatively solid and nonyieldable, especially in a fiexure mode. This means that even under pressure of the finger stopping off the string the relative position of the fret bar with respect to the bridge will not change insuring a true tone even under pressure.

Further, with this construction, it is not necessary to apply the finger pressure close to the fret bar on which the string is being stopped. It has been found, surprisingly, that pressure can actually be applied anywhere on the fret between the fret bars and there will not be any buzzing, and true tone will be maintained.

What is claimed is:

1. In a fretted stringed instrument having a neck member the improvement comprising,

a plurality of relatively rigid non-yieldable fret bars extending transversely of the neck member and disposed thereabove, arelatively rigid fret disposed and extending between at least one pair of adjacent fret bars and free of connections thereto, means yieldable mounting said rigid frets independently of each other for movement toward said neck and biasing said frets away from said neck, I

said frets and fret bars having cooperating means to limit the amount of movement of the frets away from the neck and thereby establish a normal position of said frets.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient means including a elastomeric foam material subjacent the frets.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said cooperating means includes headed portions on said fret bars defining stop surfaces cooperating with said frets to define the normal position of 'said frets.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said frets are flat pieces.

5. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein there are a pair of side rails, one on each side of the neck, and said fret bars extend between said side rails.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein a single piece of elastomeric foam extends along the neck, and said fret bars extend into said foam and are spaced from the neck. 

1. In a fretted stringed instrument having a neck member the improvement comprising, a plurality of relatively rigid non-yieldable fret bars extending transversely of the neck meMber and disposed thereabove, a relatively rigid fret disposed and extending between at least one pair of adjacent fret bars and free of connections thereto, means yieldable mounting said rigid frets independently of each other for movement toward said neck and biasing said frets away from said neck, said frets and fret bars having cooperating means to limit the amount of movement of the frets away from the neck and thereby establish a normal position of said frets.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said resilient means including a elastomeric foam material subjacent the frets.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said cooperating means includes headed portions on said fret bars defining stop surfaces cooperating with said frets to define the normal position of said frets.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said frets are flat pieces.
 5. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein there are a pair of side rails, one on each side of the neck, and said fret bars extend between said side rails.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein a single piece of elastomeric foam extends along the neck, and said fret bars extend into said foam and are spaced from the neck. 